I cannot but sce a great moral influence attendant upon the cultivation of the love of flowers in the young. And first I would notice the influence it has on early rising, not the least important step in moral training. It is seldom a mother requires the domestic assistance of children from six years old to eight, and even from those who are older it is chiefly in washing and dressing the younger ones. Let us picture then the children of a family, and perhaps those of a neighbour, agreeing all to rise at six in the morning and to sally forth to pick the buttercups and daisies, blue-bells and cowslips, in order to form a nice posy of wild flowers for their Mother to put in the window, with perhaps another for the Governess. And to be quite sure that they do not sleep away the early part of the morning, they ask their Father to call them when he gets up to go to work. Well, all are ready, and off they go, singing perhaps one of their school-songs, such as "Merry playmates leave your pillow, Sunlight long hath tinged the billow; Flowers around their odours fling. And even while flowers are yet "perfumed goblets for the dew," they are gathered by the youthful hands of those who forget not, perchance, that their Heavenly Father is the "Giver of every good and perfect gift," and the Author of all that is "beautiful and grand in nature, from the broad majestic oak to the green blade that twinkles in the sun." But their time has gone; and they return full of glee with rosy checks and happy hearts, quite ready to partake of their morning meal, be it ever so frugal. Then off they go, quite in time, to School, carrying with them these simple offerings to their Teacher, who on entering the School feels qnite inspirited by the sight of their beaming faces, and by the words,-"Please, Teacher, we gathered them for you our selves this morning.'" Is not this a far happier picture than the one we too frequently see of a Mother angrily urging on her still sleepy children to be quick and get their breakfast and be off to School, which they tardily reach at last, with half-washed faces and discontented looks, predisposed, however unconscious they may be of it themselves, to be disobedient. Can it be wondered at that they diffuse an air of gloom and discontent throughout the whole class? And when I have spoken of the cultivation of the love of flowers because we see nearly all children are naturally fond of possessing them, at least, for a time. Frequently has the writer of these lines when returning from the scene of her daily labors, accompanied by part of her little flock, whose path has been in the same direction and who have been carrying for her the tokens of her children's grateful feelings, been stopped and asked by a rough looking little urchin-"Will you give me a flower, maam ?" the boon has been granted with the remark: "If you are so fond of flowers, why don't you rise early and go into the fields and gather some ?" the general reply has been the stupid "I don't know;'-truly enough; but may we not suppose it is because they have never been trained to see the happiness of being up early, enjoying the fresh air, and plucking the flowers instead of wasting the hours in bed? And might not this custom render it less irksome when they are required to rise early in order to work? Nor is it alone in childhood's happy days that beneficial results may accrue from thus cherishing a love of flowers in the young; its influence may reach into after years. Suppose one who has learnt this love for flowers to have left school and gone out to service. Notice the care with which she will handle the various little articles of taste which may decorate the room; how gently she will undraw and arrange the curtains so as not to injure the leaves of the cherished plant; how quietly she goes about her work which is done quite as soon as in the more rough and noisy manner of one whose taste has not been, row, will not the words recur to her so cultivated. Or in sickness-how mind-"Consider the lilies of the fleld." grateful then to the sufferer is the gentle Would not this, from the very association step, the light hand, and the quick al- of ideas, bring to mind the lessons which most instinctive sense of what may be she heard at School, and thus lead her needed? Would you find these in one thoughts from "Nature up to Nature's destitute of the finer feelings of our na- God." ture which in youth require to be drawn out and cultivated? Suppose one such as I have described to go out for a walk, will she not choose to bend her steps towards the fields, where in childhood she passed so many happy hours. And will she not find a voice in every flower leading to profitable reflection, whether it be on the merciful way in which she has been guided, or if it has been found meet she should drink of the cup of sor The intelligent Trainer will see numberless other advantages arising from attention to this subject, and may perhaps be led to wonder why they have not been noticed. Should this be so, the object of the writer will have been gained, which has been simply to draw attention to a subject which in many Schools is much neglected, and which she has found very beneficial in her own. EXAMINATION FOR CERTIFICATES. We have received applications from several correspondents for a list of books which may assist them in preparing for the general Examination of Schoolmasters. It is a matter of regret that, while these Examinations are still continued, so few Masters present themselves as Candidates for Certificates. Mere intellectual attainments, it is obvious, do not determine the efficiency of the Educator. Tact and thoroughness in organization; insight into character and control over the will; method and energy in teaching; these are his most valuable qualifications, and are often found in those whose information is limited. But standard of attainments sufficient to obtain a Certificate of Merit, is such, we think, as an elementary Schoolmaster should seek to reach. The Examination for Certificates is to him what the Degree Examination is to the University student; it should be considered as a stage through which it is expected he should pass. His preparation, rightly conducted, will be a means of mental culture; and since it lies chiefly in the subjects of elementary instruction, will have a direct relation to his work in School. In a pecuniary view, the Certificate is an important assistance to those who hold it; nor is it we consider, its least incidental advantage that it entitles them to the Annual Reports of the Education Committee, which contain much valuable matter and must deeply interest all Teachers whose heart is in their work. Our readers, we suppose, are aware that the papers on the elementary subthejects-as Holy Scripture, Geography, Arithmetic, Grammar, English History, and that on School management, are by far the most important. Through these alone, when answered with accuracy, a high position is obtained on the class list; and careful study should be bestowed upon them. The range of subjects in elementary in struction is necessarily limited, and it may be expected that a Master should be thoroughly conversant with them. A self-prepared Candidate for a Certificate should seek a solid acquaintance with the strictly elementary course, and avoid the temptation to aim at a thin crust over a widely extended surface. H.M. Inspectors rightly consider that the latter betokens the very worst qualifications of a Master, an illdisciplined mind and an empirical attempt to appear what he is not. The paper on the Holy Scriptures has attached to it a preponderating value, bearing, as we have been assured, a ratio to any other subject almost as two to one. And this for two reasons, first --because the Bible contains the truths most important for a Master to inculcate as they bear upon the education for time and eternity; and, because also, it contains a sacred field of boundless inquiry, at once a cyclopædia of literature, history, poetry, morals and religion. No Master can hope to acquit himself well here who attempts the cramming system. He must have made the Scriptures his daily study, as a habit of his life. He must have opened his mind as well as his ears at its public and domestic reading; and when the period of examination approaches, he may with propriety use some well-prepared analysis. The history of the Old Testament should be first mastered, and he should test his own ability to compose a biography of its leading characters, Patriarchs, Judges, and Prophets. He should proceed to write abstracts of the prophets and compare them with the analysis, marking the time, the object, and the most conspicuous predictions of each. After this a similar method should be adopted with the New Testament, both in the Gospels and the Epistles. Notes of lessons on the Parables should be constantly prepared for the School, and abstracts of the scope and contents of the Epistles frequently composed. Such an Analysis may be found in the list of both the Christian Knowledge Society, and the Tract Society. The Treasury Bible, Nicholl's help to the Scriptures or the Cambridge Analysis would serve the same purpose. The object next in order of importance is that of School Management. This, again, is as it should be, when we consider its relation to the Schoolmaster. Next to the knowledge of the principles of religion, nothing can be more essential to him than professional science and professional skill. We need not here say much upon this head, inasmuch as the whole of this periodical is devoted to this twofold department, and was originally undertaken to supply, if possible, an acknowledged defect in the school literature of this country. Our attempts to improve the method and organization of English Schools have been, beyond all expectation, favourably received, not only by the class whose benefit they immediately seek, but by H. M's Inspectors and Officers of Training Institutions, whose contributions in many cases have only been prevented by the engrossing nature of their official employments. We desire that candidates for certificates will not peruse the numbers as they come to hand as of ephemeral importance, but study and often recur to those articles of method, organization, and principles of Education, which have been prepared with great pains by men who are distinguished in their several departments. We purpose to continue this subject in our next number, and to furnish a list of text-books, which may assist candidates in their studies. No. 11. PAPERS FOR THE SCHOOLMASTER. JANUARY 1, 1852. The Maral and Material Condition of the Working Elasses. A sympathy with the labouring classes of society is one of the most promising and healthy symptoms of the present day. Efforts of Christian philanthropy have hitherto been far too desultory, detached, and individual, to meet the necessities of a sunken or a sinking mass. Here and there the pitying accents of a benevolent man and woman have been heard in the dwellings of poverty, and a tract that spoke of human redemption and human destiny has been placed upon the crazy table and the three-legged stool. But while a very appreciable blessing has followed in the train of individual exertions, unquestionably no results have ever yet been produced commensurate with the hopeful promises of that Gospel which is the very heritage of the poor. Questions of ecclesiastical rule and doctrinal refinement, however important they may be, have engrossed the minds of the influential, while the millions of working men have felt that no conscious want of their own has ever been approached. And thus too often has it happened that under a sense of their helpless condition they have turned away from their religious teachers and become negatively infidel. Drunkenness is the handmaid of despair, and the beer-house the refuge of those who regard themselves as consigned, by some unavoidable destiny, to become machines, who may possibly be laid aside for those of steam, and are in no ease called upon to assert the privileges of their humanity. This condition was the inevitable result of a widely-spread belief, among those who were nevertheless enriched by their industry, that intellectual elevation would interfere with their usefulness as laborers. There are those that should have known better, who have not testified against these jealousies as unfounded in fact, and as unjust to their claims as men. The hope of the future rests upon the now growing belief that mental culture needs not interfere with the labor-market. And if so, how can it be otherwise but that the intelligent working man, because he works not as a machine, but as an intelligent man, will recognise in labour its own native dignity? The artisan of the workshop would execute his handicraft far more effectually if he were acquainted with its hidden principles; and the field-labourer, if he understood the conditions of agricultural productiveness, would be a far more useful servant to his employers. Both would rise in self-respect as they felt the value of a new faculty, uniting intelligence with manual industry. As such intelligence becomes valued, the inducements to cultivate it will increase; and the advantages which will flow from such culture will be seen in the diminution of animal indulgence, in noble sacrifices borne for children's education, in' the growth of domestic comforts and family independence. Cleanliness will follow in the train of intelligence, and, where this is absent, there can be no favourable condition for the developement of moral habits. Neither the political economist nor the religious philanthropist will have anything to lose, but everything to gain by the social and material improvement of the poor. The savings of the mechanic are his stake in the country, and secure his interest in the national well-being. His life-policy, or his £50 in the Saving's Bank, is as valuable a possession to him as the property of the merchant, or the estate of the noble. And when the man of labor has been taught to feel that those who are the recognised teachers of religion are not jealous of his human birth-right to learn or to think; and when he is lifted up from his slough of despond to a condition where self-respect and self-improvement are even friendly to manual labor and industry; and when sottishness, the inseparable shadow of despair, vanishes with the substance which created it; when the Sunday-garb is redeemed for the decent service of God's sanctuary, and for that holy-day when "rich and poor meet together in the presence of Him who is Maker of them all," assuredly we must have been too long nursed in hereditary prejudices if we do not see in such circumstances a condition more favourable to the high interests of religion than we now witness in the purlieus of Manchester and the attics of St. Giles. At the opening of a New Year, we congratulate our readers upon the growth of wiser sentiments springing up out of the consciousness of the real wants of the country. Men of religious minds, to whom alone we look with hope, are ceasing to undervalue instrumentality. They hold indeed, as fast as ever, the belief that mental advance ⚫ will necessarily flow from the spread of religious feeling; but |